~LENORA'S POV
After Azalea finished tending my wounds, she helped me into a clean but coarse garment that dragged painfully across my back.
Then, two guards arrived without explanation and ordered us forward through the unfamiliar corridors.
The deeper we went, the more the palace warmth disappeared. Soon the air became so cold and unforgiving, biting into my lungs with every breath.
They pushed us into a narrow stone room lit by a single torch, then shut the heavy door behind us with a force that echoed inside my skull.
For a moment neither of us spoke.
My strength finally gave out and I lowered myself to the floor. I turned carefully onto my stomach so my back would not protest any more than it already had.
The stone beneath me was bitterly cold, yet against the burning heat spreading through my wounds it felt almost relieving. I lay there trembling, trying to steady my breathing.
